By the early 1990s, Mike Gianoni’92 EMBA had held several kinds of jobs in a variety of companies and felt unclear about where his career was headed. Then he enrolled in UNH’s MBA program, and the experience was, he says, “an eye opener.”

“The program was excellent,” Gianoni recalls. “Therewere 22 students in the class and they were a good mix, with bright, experienced people from many different industries. Working with them gave me a real perspective on the larger opportunities in the world. Plus, the pace was challenging and exciting and the professors brought a lot of real-world experience to the classes. All around, it was a great learning experience.”

With the direction of his career long since clarified, Gianoni now works for Fiserv Corporation, a leading global provider of information management and electronic commerce systems for the financial services industry. The $4 billion company has 20,000 employees. As a president of the Financial Institutions Group, he reports directly to the CEO and is responsible for seven business divisions.

During a spring visit to UNH to talk with MBA students, Gianoni explained the development of one of Fiserv’s newest products, called Pop Money, which allows consumers to take advantage of new technology advances to make person-to-person payments online or with smart phones.

“With more consumers using their smart phones for banking, traditional banks will face dramatic changes in the digital age,” he predicts.

Gianoni is the youngest of seven children of an Italian immigrant who entered the United States through Ellis Island when he was just 15 and found the American dream in Bristol, where he started a small but successful machining business fabricating parts for large Connecticut companies. His father’s interest in technology was not lost on Mike.

After graduating from Waterbury State Technical College with an associate degree in electrical engineering, Gianoni found work with Meriden-based Canberra Industries, which provides measurement solutions for nuclear safety and security applications.

He continued to pursue his education, taking courses at Teikyo Post University and at Charter Oak College – where he earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration – during his four years with Canberra. The job gave him experience in sales support, project management, new product introduction and marketing. By 1985 he had earned the position of senior systems engineer and systems marketing manager.

While pursuing his MBA, Gianoni was an account executive at Wang Laboratories, where he made the “President’s Club,” a recognition of sales excellence, each of his five years with the company, and was one of 35 employees named to Wang’s “fast track” program.

Before joining Fiserv, Gianoni spent 11 years at DST Systems, a $2 billion systems and software company, starting as director of client services, systems, sales and marketing and rising through the ranks to senior vice president and general manager of the company’s E-Solutions division.

When his busy career affords him free time, he enjoys riding motorcycles and sailing with his family. Though he had built a solid track record before arriving at UNH, he’s quick to affirm that his career came into clearer focus thanks to his time here.

“The MBA program was very good for me,” he says.

Posted Fall 2012

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